1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a peripheral monitoring apparatus that is used in an automobile automatic run control system, for sensing a relative position, a relative speed and a shape of an object or a target.
2. Description of Related Art
In an automobile run control system as represented by an automatic cruise control system, a peripheral monitoring sensor must work as eyes for an automobile driver. Therefore, it is necessary that this apparatus securely senses a relative position of a target (a distance), a relative speed of the target and a shape of the target. So far, a peripheral monitoring sensor that is designed for an automobile has not been commercially available.
For an automatic cruise control system (ACC), there has conventionally been used a millimetric wave radar or an image sensor that employs a camera for recognizing a target that is in front, at the rear, or at the side of an automobile. The millimetric wave radar is good at measuring a distance from the automobile to a target. However, it is not good at recognizing a shape, that is, a size or width, of the target. On the other hand, the image sensor is not good at measuring a distance, but is good at recognizing a shape of a target.
As explained above, there has not so far been available a peripheral monitoring sensor that securely senses all of the relative position of a target, the relative speed of the target, and the shape of the target.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a peripheral monitoring sensor that is capable of securely sensing the relative position of a target, the relative speed of the target, and the shape of the target.
In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a peripheral monitoring sensor that has a millimetric wave radar and an image sensor and their data is fused, for accurately detecting a relative position of a target, a relative speed of the target, and a shape of the target.
Further, according to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a peripheral monitoring sensor comprising a millimetric wave radar, an image sensor and signal processor, wherein the signal processor prepares information on a target existing within a predetermined area, based on information obtained from the millimetric wave radar and information obtained from the image sensor.
Further, according to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a peripheral monitoring sensor having a fusion of a millimetric wave radar data that is good at detecting both a relative position and a relative speed of a target, and an image sensor data that is good at recognizing a shape of a target, thereby to provide correct peripheral information to a run control system as represented by an automatic cruise control system.
Further, according to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a peripheral monitoring sensor of the above aspect, wherein the millimetric wave radar has a role of detecting an existence of a target such as a speed and a range to the target, and the signal processor combines information on the target such as a bearing and a width of the target obtained by the image sensor with a position of the target detected by the millimetric wave radar, thereby to judge the existence of the target.